A defining week in the season is upon Everton and for David Moyes it is a step into the unknown. Zenit St Petersburg tonight will become the first Russian club side to play at Goodison Park and, as champions of their domestic league, they will present an acid test of Everton's hopes of progress in the Uefa Cup - but it was mention of an impending Carling Cup quarter-final that really set the Scot dreaming.

"Five years I've been here and that is the first time anyone has been able to ask me about a cup quarter-final," said the Everton manager, when asked if he would rotate against the Russians with next Wednesday's visit to West Ham in mind. The response encapsulated both Moyes' greatest frustration and failing since replacing Walter Smith in March 2002.

In 12 cup campaigns prior to this season Everton have only once gone as far as the fifth round under Moyes, in the 2005 FA Cup. Now, perhaps, there is change at Goodison. A point against Dick Advocaat's Zenit tonight will guarantee Everton a place in the last 32 of the Uefa Cup, while at Upton Park next week Moyes has an opportunity to take the club into a semi-final for the first time since the victorious FA Cup run of 1995.

"This is where we would hope to be, and I would have liked to have been in this situation more often," he admitted. "But I have to be pleased with the progress we have now and the opportunity to play the Russian champions and then a cup quarter-final at West Ham. I want that to be the norm, I want to be talking about cup quarter-finals every season, but I haven't been able to do so in five years here. It is looking healthier now, but we are not there yet and we have to keep progressing in all competitions."

That message has been drummed into his players this season. Harsh cup draws have played a part in the barren runs - Arsenal and Chelsea have twice knocked Everton out of the domestic cups under Moyes, Manchester United once, with the eventual semi-finalists Villarreal an unfortunate Champions League opponent in 2005 - but exits to Shrewsbury, Dinamo Bucharest, Fulham and Middlesbrough also indicate an ability to orchestrate their own downfalls.

Record investments on the scale of £11.25m for Yakubu and £8.6m on Andrew Johnson, and a side containing the artistry and ambition of Mikel Arteta, now demand better. As does Moyes.

"It is not about surviving or getting a Uefa Cup place, he actually wants us to win some silverware," said Phil Neville, the captain. "With the amount of money the manager has spent and the fact that we've been getting into European qualifying positions in recent years, there comes a time when you've got to put your balls on the line and say: 'We need to win a trophy'. We are getting to that point now."

Zenit last month became the first club from outside Moscow to win the Russian title in over a decade and, despite now being in their winter close-season, should provide a clearer indication of where Everton stand than Metalist Kharkiv, Larissa and Nuremberg have so far in the Uefa Cup. Provided Advocaat's team are not in holiday-mode, of course. "I just hope they can focus for one last time and they realise how important this game is to the club," the Zenit manager said yesterday.

With Andrei Arshavin and Konstantin Zyryanov, the two Russian internationals who put Everton defender Joleon Lescott on trial during England's costly Euro 2008 qualifying defeat in Moscow, Zenit have the calibre to puncture Goodison's renewed optimism. Joseph Yobo and Tim Howard are both doubtful for tonight's penultimate Group A fixture although, on the back of an eight-game unbeaten run, the Everton manager is considering resting some players for West Ham.

"This is new to me, I don't do rotation," said Moyes. "I said when the draw was made that Zenit are the strongest team and I still believe that. This will be a real test. It is moments like this that we have been hoping to have for a long time."